[Leica] Thoughts on the ZI rangefinder

[mccluney at sbcglobal.net (Gene E. McCluney)]

>I am not so sure that the Zeiss offering will do all that well.  The
>Konica RF was and is a pretty good rangefinder with a much better than
>average rangefinder and good ergonomics.  Build quality was also
>nothing to complain about.  Yet this camera did not succeed in the
>marketplace.
>
>The Zeiss offering is going to be a dressed up Bessa, I am not sure
>you can dress up a Bessa enough to get 2.5 to 3 times the price.  If
>the rangefinder works well with parallax correction in the close range
>that the lenses allow for then that might compensate for a percieved
>lack of build quality.
>
>Snip



>0.02
>
>Don
>don.dory@gmail.com
>

I honestly don't know how to get across to people that the Zeiss is 
definately NOT a
"dressed up" Bessa.   The ONLY things it has in common with the Bessa 
cameras are
the Copal shutter, which is used in a zillion other cameras including 
most of the
popular digital DSLR's, and the "M" lens mount.

There is no single common body casting between the Zeiss Ikon and any Bessa,
the RFDR is different, the viewfinder is different, the advance lever 
is different,
the rewind lever is different (and on the bottom)

The Zeiss Ikon has final quality control by Zeiss.  It is Zeiss 
reputation that is
at stake here, not Cosina.

The only way it could be MORE different from the Bessa is if it were made by
some other manufacturer.  The only common denominator is the manufacturer.

Are we going to belittle ANY camera body from Cosina?    Just wait and
try out the Zeiss Ikon before making such statements.

Are all the recently discontinued Contax SLR's and AF cameras just "dressed
up Kyocera's?"   If that were the case, then wouldn't one be better off 
getting
the "Yashica" SLR equivalent of the Contax SLR?  They did make a Yashica
slr with the Contax lens mount.

Is a Leica CL, just a "dressed up" Minolta because that is who made it, or
rather is it a unique camera that has its own merits which happened to be
made for Leitz under contract by Minolta.  Just like the Zeiss Ikon is a
unique camera with unique features made for Zeiss by Cosina.

I will grant you that the Zeiss Ikon is not going to be a runaway best 
seller,
but that is because of the nature of the photo market, not the quality of
the camera.  RFDR cameras are a "niche" market, which happens to
be going through a "boomlet" at the moment.  I'll bet it will sell better
than the Konica RF because of the Zeiss Ikon brand recognition in association
with pro quality cameras and pro quality optics.


Gene McCluney
who owns Bessa and Leica and Zeiss Contax cameras and likes them all.